A Franciscan Jesuit for pope
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AP/AP - In
this image made from video provided by CTV, Pope Francis celebrates his
inaugural Mass with cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel, at the
Vatican, Thursday, March 14, 2013. As the 266th pope, Francis
inherits a Catholic church in turmoil, beset by the clerical sex abuse
scandal, internal divisions and dwindling numbers in parts
of the world where Christianity had been strong for centuries. (AP
Photo/CTV)
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What can we make of the Argentine Jesuit pope who
has chosen the name Francis?
Jesuits and Franciscans are
both Catholic, but they do represent different forms of Catholic
spirituality. In times past, the Jesuits and Franciscans have also had
their share of disagreements—over mission territory, over involvement in
secular affairs and over the finer points of theology.
Jesuits are celebrated for their complexity; Franciscans are admired for their
simplicity.
Jesuit
spirituality values discernment and decision-making, and a prayerful
consideration of possibilities and choices. It is a way that emphasizes
detachment from the passions.
Franciscan
spirituality embraces an ethos of sharing, a sharing not just of
possessions, but also of love and experience. It is a way recognizes our
reliance on the mercy of God.
Jesuits,
of course, have a well-deserved reputation as the intellectuals of the
church—a quality that finds expression not just through teaching and
research, but also through organizing and institution building.
Franciscans are accustomed to expressing themselves in less discursive
ways: through labor, through charity, and through other examples of what
Catholics call corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
It’s
easy to make too much of these differences. Many Jesuits have embraced
poverty and lives of hidden service; and many Franciscans are keen
theologians and brilliant thinkers.
But most importantly, Jesuit and Franciscan spiritualities converge on the person of Jesus Christ.
St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, often meditated on the prayerAmina Christi that says, “O Jesus, hide me in Thy wounds so that I may never be separated from Thee.” St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Order of
Friars Minor, kissed and washed the sores of lepers. For him, Christ was not just revealed in the leper, Jesus was a leper: despised, humiliated, and outcast.
For
both Ignatius and Francis, for both Jesuits and Franciscans, it is the
person of Christ who reveals the divine and transforms our humanity.
Pope
Francis will bring a
Jesuit intellectualism into the papacy.
After all, he was trained in Germany and taught theology himself. But
by choosing the name Francis, he is also affirming the power of humility
and simplicity. Pope Francis, the Argentine Jesuit, is not simply
attesting to the complementarity of the Ignatian and Franciscan paths.
He is pointing to how the mind and heart meet in the love of Jesus
Christ.
Both
St. Ignatius and St. Francis often received “the gift of tears.” And I
know many people—myself included—who were moved to tears when Pope
Francis recited the Our Father and the Hail Mary with the assembled
crowd and then asked for their silent prayers. It was an act that
combined simplicity with a powerful openness to divine and human love.
It was a scene that was both Jesuit and Franciscan because it was so
deeply Christian. It was a moment when Pope Francis reminded us how
much we need Jesus, and also how much we need one another.
Mathew Schmalz teaches and writes on global Catholicism at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass.
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